Legal Briefs - March 2006

? Miami attorney Francisco R. "Frank" Angones will become the first Cuban-born president of the Florida Bar in 2007. Angones, elected without opposition, will serve his term after incoming President Henry M. "Hank" Cox III, who will be sworn in as president in June. Angones practices civil trial, personal injury defense, commercial torts and insurance defense litigation at the firm he co-founded, Angones, McClure & Garcia, P.A. Since 2000, he's been a member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors, where he serves on the executive committee. He's past president of the Dade County and Cuban American Bar associations.

? Akerman Senterfitt lured five prominent international attorneys away from Greenberg Traurig in Miami to launch the firm's new global practice group: Jorge Gutierrez, Luis O'Naghten, Bert Diaz, Sean Santini and Susana Betancourt.

? Shutts & Bowen named a longtime IRS lawyer as partner in its Miami office. William Bernard McCarthy most recently worked for more than five years at the national accounting firm of KPMG, where he was a director in the Tax Controversy Services practice. Before that, he worked for 17 years in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel.

? Coral Gables firm George, Hartz, Lundeen, Fulmer, Johnstone, King & Stevens, with eight offices throughout Florida, has tapped a 20-year Navy pilot as partner. Robert F. Cooke served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years before he earned a midcareer law degree. One of his specialties is aviation law.